Stuff! Too much stuff. I have a treasure trove of family heirlooms passed through my generations; strange glassware, unusual statues, moth-smelling scarves, gaudy jewelry and yes, a bear rug. (More on the rug later!)

As I am packing, I have become quite envious of my daughter who has developed into a minimalist. With the growing conviction that I do not want to leave her with the same burden others left me, I decided not to encumber my life with extra baggage from this move.

Besides, nothing last forever, right?

Wrong…

 Yes, most things fade … except memories, feelings, and smiles will imprint on your heart forever.

Take my glass camel pitcher or is it a teapot? The one I have wrapped and toted from house to house even though it’s ancient and chipped. The pitcher is the oddest; a camel lying down, the lid, his colorful saddle with a rattan handle.
Look closely and you can see the
broken green saddle bar.

 The pitcher belonged to my Great Aunt Hilda who had a perpetual smile and a seventy-year marriage to the love of her life. She would be well over 130 years if alive. Aunt Hilda made everyone smile even though she broke almost everything she touched. My mother once said that I took after her. “Just like Aunt Hilda, you are shushly.”

My mother explained how her Aunt Hilda would dust for my grandmother who was overwhelmed with a houseful of seven children. “She needed help caring for her family, so she called on Aunt Hilda.” I remember Mom giggling, “she broke everything when she dusted. But she sure made us smile.”

When my mother passed, I rediscovered the camel glassware. The discovery made me flash back to Great Aunt Hilda. Every summer morning as a child when she watched me, she would cook me a Birdie in the Nest egg sandwich. (Click on the words to see the recipe!) I would spend the morning playing UNO with them at an outdated metal framed kitchen table with the red-Formica top. My Aunt would howl every time Uncle Albert or I yelled UNO, and the jovial rolls under her chin and folded arms jiggled like we were experiencing an earthquake.

 As I grew older, Aunt Hilda had additional reasons that made me smile.  Reasons my mother would shudder in horror about if she knew. Great Aunt Hilda had no reservations explaining the Birds and the Bees. A woman ahead of her time, she enlightened me on the subject and how enjoyable relations could be.

Our little secret. Perhaps, those secrets are for a later story.

The camel, broken or not, is a priceless relic to me. I would be tossing Aunt Hilda in the trash not to mention my mother’s smile.

How could I throw her away?  The family relics like the camel; glassware, statues, scarves, jewelry and yes, the bear rug in the first picture, all spark cherished memories.

I came to a decision I could live with…I would share my smiles!

I didn’t shoot the bear. I couldn’t, I am not by any description a hunter. But when my daughter begged for a bear rug for our rustic and western themed décor, after much loss in our lives, I wanted to make her smile. I had to find one. By pure luck, or should I say by divine angels, a dear client had one to give away! I had no choice but to inherit it. For many years, the bear stained a smile on our hearts and not to mention was an interesting topic of conversation in our home.

Today I am moving and the fuzzy bear would never fit into my coastal decor.  I loved the bear rug, and my client, who without knowing free of charge, created glimmers of happiness in our chaotic lives.

I decided to pass the feeling on.

When I received a ‘thank you’ and a snapshot of the young boy embracing our beloved bear, I was left with a delightful lasting memory as well as his mother and grandmother.

Letting go is redeeming and refreshing especially when permanently stamped with a smile that may linger forever. Some things do last forever!

I am not positive to whom I will share the unique camel pitcher, but I do hope my stories will leave every reader with an interminable impression. One that makes them smile to escape from their chaotic world!

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